About the Fathauer Lecture in Political Economy

Established in 1982 and endowed in 1996 by Isabel and Walter Fathauer, the Lecture brings internationally known scholars to the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management. More than 200 business and community leaders, students, and other community members attend the free public event each year.

Ariel PakesThomas Professor of EconomicsHarvard University

On Thursday, March 1, 2018 the Eller College will host the annual Fathauer Lecture in Political Economy, featuring Ariel Pakes, Thomas Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

The lecture takes place from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., followed by a reception in McClelland Hall's Estes Atrium.

From Models of Firm Behavior to the Analysis of Market Outcomes: Empirical Industrial Organization

Industrial organization is the study of how markets respond to policy and environmental changes. During the 1980s, theorists took up the challenge of moving from an analysis based on aggregate models of demand and supply to an analysis of the responses of individual firms and the relationship of their actions to market outcomes. The models were realistic in that they allowed each firm's actions to determine all firms' profits, but the predicted outcomes depended on particular assumptions on timing, functional forms and more. The computer revolution intervened to improve the situation. It generated the data, econometric techniques and computational abilities required to clarify when different assumptions were appropriate. This lecture uses examples to illustrate both how far we have come in this analysis, and where some of the remaining problems lie.

About Ariel Pakes

Ariel Pakes is the Thomas Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, where he teaches courses in industrial organization and econometrics. He received the Frisch Medal of the Econometric Society in 1986, and was elected as a fellow of that society in 1988. Ariel was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and was the Distinguished Fellow of the Industrial Organization in 2007. In 2017 he received the Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He has been on the editorial board of several journals and on a number of NSF, American Academy and National Academy of Sciences committees. He has also been the chair of the AEA Census Advisory Panel.

Ariel’s research has focused on developing methods for empirically analyzing market responses to environmental and policy changes. He and his co-authors have applied these tools to the analysis of the auto, healthcare and telecommunications equipment industries. Ariel also developed techniques for constructing a more accurate consumer price index and analyzing the impact of incentive schemes on the hospital allocations of doctors. Much of his methodological work has been incorporated into the way government agencies evaluate the likely impact of policy changes.

RSVP

Thank you for your interest in the Fathauer Lecture in Political Economy. Complete the form below by February 27 to RSVP.

The lecture is free; however, there is a fee for parking in the Park Avenue Garage just west of McClelland Hall.